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Ducks' Koivu to face brother tonight

October 6, 2009 | 4:20
pm

Saku Koivu will face his younger brother, Mikko, tonight when the Ducks face the Wild at St. Paul, Minn. It's not the first time -- they met three times while Saku was a member of the Montreal Canadiens -- but it will be the first time since Saku left Montreal as a free agent.

"It's always special. You get in the faceoff circle and you don't know if you should let him win one or not," the Ducks' Koivu told reporters Tuesday. "But it's always different when you have a new team. It's special."

Saku holds the edge in the brothers' previous meetings, 2-1. Saku also holds the edge on the scoreboard: He has two assists in their three games and Mikko has been held scoreless.

Koivu will become the seventh member of the Ducks to face his brother in a regular-season game. The others were Dmitri Mironov versus brother Boris of Edmonton; Sean Pronger versus Chris (while Chris was with St. Louis); Ted Drury versus Chris Drury of Colorado; Paul Kariya versus younger brother Steve of Vancouver; Rob Niedermayer versus older brother Scott (then with New Jersey) and Drew Miller versus goaltender brother Ryan of Buffalo.